Little words of wisdom

 

A self-inflicted lazy weekend

image from Freepik

If only I had been doing something sporty ~ alas I was only changing our bed 😯

Saturday started off well and I was planning to carry on with what I had been doing during the earlier part of last week, i.e. working in the garden in the morning, and continue tackling the mess in my craft room after lunch.  I decided to be a bit sensible, though, and have a somewhat "slower" weekend as we'd both been working hard during the week.  We almost always Komp with my Dad either Saturday or Sunday, depending really on which day suits him best.  This weekend it was to be on Saturday, so I thought I'd strip off our bed and get the bedding in the washing machine whilst I showered, breakfasted, etc.  We then chatted with Dad and as time was marching on somewhat by the time we'd finished, I decided to remake our bed and only do an hour or so in the garden.  So far, so good 😏

I got the fresh bedding on the bed and was just straightening up Adrian's pillow ~ leaning across from my side of the bed ~ when I felt, almost "heard" actually, a popping sensation in the back of my right leg!  Omg, my lovelies, pain shot through said leg and I had to sit down very quickly as I felt decidedly odd😧 I just sat there for a few minutes sort of rocking myself back and forth in an effort to calm down ~ it sounds mad, I know, but it did work!  I gingerly felt my leg and nothing seemed out of place, as it were.  I was worried that perhaps I'd managed to somehow tear a muscle but on reflection I think I must have just given something a good "pull", as I'm sure I would have been in much more (and continuing) pain if I'd done anything more serious.

So as you can imagine no work has been done either in the garden or craft room these past couple of days.  I'm a tad annoyed with myself, to be honest, as I had been on such a roll all week 😒 My weekend has instead been spent alternating between resting my leg with a soothing heating pad and gently walking around the house, coupled with taking plenty of paracetamols.  The leg is still pretty sore, and feels as if the back of my knee/top of calf/lower thigh are bruised.  Who knew that doing something as simple, and everyday, as leaning across a bed could cause such discomfort!

I have resigned myself to doing less than I had planned this week.  I do have a hair appointment later this morning so will be doing more walking today.  I am going to be sensible, though, and get the bus so that I am not walking all the way from our house down to the shops, and will also use my walking stick for a little added support.

As I said earlier, though, it is very annoying 😒 

Anyhoo, enough of my tales of woe!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that our Christmas decorations had been languishing in the store room, untouched, for quite some time?  I kept telling myself that I really must sort through them as we haven't really decorated the house for Christmas much at all since we moved here.  I finally got a "push" when the activities organiser (I can't remember her proper title!) at Hamnavoe House (the residential elderly care home here in Stromness) put out a call asking if folk had any decorations they could donate.  Adrian brought the crates in from the store room for me a couple of weeks back and I went through them.

I was pretty ruthless and managed to gather a fairly large crate of things to donate, plus a couple of larger items that wouldn't fit in said crate.  As we have family coming up this year for Christmas I will be making a concerted effort to decorate the house, and may well decide that some of the things I kept this time can actually go after all😉  

And finally, I thought you might like to see how the schlumbergera is doing.  This photo was taken a couple of weeks back and I'm really pleased that the promise of flowers it was showing then haven't disappointed ~ I'll try to remember to take an up-to-date photo to share in my next post 😊 

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)   

How amazing ~ absolutely nothing to do with the garden 😄

image from Clipart Library

I mentioned way back in the mists of time that we were building flat-packed wardrobes for our bedroom, and it dawned on me the other day that I hadn't updated you any further on our progress 😏  

In our previous home we had built-in wardrobes in our bedroom, so when we moved into St Abbs we had nothing to hang our clothes in.  We were loath to fork out for "decent" wardrobes as we knew that at some point, when we renovated the bedroom, we were planning to once again have built-in cupboards.  On the other hand, building cheaper flat-packed furniture is something that we just aren't very good at!  In the end we decided to just get a couple of clothes-rails to hang everything on.  

Of course, back then we hadn't realised just how long it was going to take us to work our way round the house; six years later the bedroom was no nearer to being renovated and our clothes were still hanging on those rails.  It really wasn't an ideal situation as they get remarkably dusty just hanging there, so in the end we decided to bite the bullet and go for some flat-packed furniture after all since we have absolutely no idea when we'll be getting the bedroom sorted out😳    

The room is a pretty decent size but as it's built partly into the roof, it makes it a little more difficult to fit wardrobes into.  Hopefully when we finally get the room renovated having built-in furniture will make good use of the space.

As I mentioned previously we did have some issues with the wardrobes but eventually that was sorted out and we were able to get them built.  It was a somewhat frustrating and annoying task, and we didn't make a brilliant job of it, but at least everything is now behind closed doors instead of gathering layers of dust!

As you can see we also built a couple of smaller cupboards for other stuff.  We weren't able to find suitable matching pieces, unfortunately, so have had to make do with what was right for what we wanted to store.

This, as you can see, is my shoe collection.  Now I realise that compared to some folk it really is a pretty modest collection.....but for someone who tends to default to Crocs most of the time, I definitely have way more pairs of assorted footwear than I actually need 😄

Sorting them out was another of those little jobs that I just kept putting off tackling but in the end it really didn't take long at all, and I whittled the collection down to these 😏

Since my high blood pressure medication was changed my feet and ankles are much less swollen than they were, and so I found that I could actually fit into all of them except for one pair!  Three pairs were actually too large and another two were simply uncomfortable, so I may try to sell them as they have never been worn. 

Ta-daa!  All put away, looking very neat and tidy even if I do say so myself 😉

Once I'd got that little job done I decided to move the boys off our bed to sit on top of the cupboard.  The cushion is there to support poor 'ole Fred (the dapper doggy in the snazzy blue leggings 😍) as his head is flopping all over the place again.  He really could do with his stuffing being topped up again in his neck ~ I'll try to get round to sorting the poor little bugger out sometime over the coming winter months 😊

Little words of wisdom

 

Still chomping at that elephant!

image from Clipart Library

Despite last week's radio silence from yours truly, we were still plugging away at the work to be done in the garden ~ it's never-bloody-ending 😳 

Adrian has made great progress in our new little patio area in the front garden, and as you can see the raised bed on the left has now been extended.  Incredibly it has eaten all of the soil mountain, plus half a dozen bags of not-quite-fully-composted compost that had to be emptied out from our bins when we topped up all the stone chippings earlier in the year.  The soil from the mountain was extremely wet and claggy, which made the job much more difficult and tiring.

As always, I'm behind with photos.  The bed on the right is now completely empty, and Adrian has also since used some of the soil from it to top up the "new" bed.  Now that we can see the potential space we've decided to completely dismantle the bed on the right, to make the seating area larger.  It will be nice to be able to position the garden furniture against the tall walls, making the seating area more sheltered and cosy.

We'll be left with more soil again, of course, but we've already been dipping into it to top-up other parts of the garden, so I don't think it will be hanging around for long!  The leftover wooden boards won't go to waste, either, as Adrian wants to use them to top off the edging of the borders over in the ornamental garden.  

Back in August I told you about the trials and tribulations of this year's strawberry crop.  I mentioned that I was intending to move them to a new location, and plant them in a different way.  This, my lovelies, is the idea I had to hopefully make the bed easier to manage.  The pots are quite large, certainly big enough to set the strawberry supports I got from Marshalls in.   I managed to get half the new bed done but it wasn't as easy as I had hoped it would be, as the soil was pretty wet and heavy 😒  As usual it took far longer than I had anticipated just to get half the bed done but luckily for me Adrian volunteered to tackle the other half, which he finished today, although I haven't taken photos yet.

I've been working round the other kitchen garden beds over the last week or so, keeping the weeds at bay before it becomes too unpleasant to work out there.  As you can see, I made a start on the other half of the new strawberry bed.  I made of a mess of it, to be honest, as I somehow managed to dig too far down in the soil when I was putting in the pots 😳 That's probably why Adrian took pity on me and volunteered to do it 😄

What's that saying?  "One year's seeds, seven years weeds"?  The asparagus bed was developing yet another fine crop of the buggers, but thankfully it didn't take long to pull the blighters out.

Looks a tad odd, I know, but there's method in my madness 😉 I treated myself to a selection of tulips and narcissus from J. Parkers to grow as cut flowers.  I planted them in pond plant baskets to make them easier to remove once they have finished flowering.  I'll then tuck them away, still in the baskets, in a suitable spot in the back garden until I replant them again next autumn.  I may well plant at least some of them into the borders, though, and buy some different varieties to grow for the spring of 2026.  Of course, it sounds good in theory ~ we'll just have to wait and see what it pans out like in practice!

And to finish off, I dug up the last of this year's potato crop this morning.  Whilst they have been very tasty, the potatoes definitely haven't grown as large this year.  Hopefully next year's crop will be better 😊

Christmas in October

image from Clipart Library

Yup, it's that time again when the house smells deliciously Christmassy and the kitchen is steamy for days 😄

I did a really big supermarket shop the week of the great fuchsia massacre, with the intention of setting-to and getting the Christmas puddings made the day after the girls had done their stuff out in the garden.  And, for once, I actually got my arse in gear and did what I'd planned to do 😉  I was also full of good intentions to share this year's big cooking exercise sooner but to be honest I felt a bit sort of tired and "flat" last week.  I think all the work in the garden is catching up with me a tad, so apologies for last week's radio silence.

Anyhoo, better late than never, so here's the recipe for the Larkin Christmas Pudding ~ along with a smattering of photos for good measure.  Over the years I have refined and tweaked this recipe so instead of just pointing you in the direction of a previous post as usual, I thought it was high time I actually rewrote it!  

I should also point out that I had more puddings to make this year, so I bought double the amount of ingredients.  However I still followed the normal recipe, simply making it twice, as I don't have any containers large enough to hold all those ingredients to make double the amount in one go!  I should think it would also be no mean feat to stir double the amount of everything together 😳

340g/12oz sultanas

340g/12oz raisins

170g/6oz cherries, halved or quartered

227g/8oz finely chopped mixed candied peel

227g/8oz plain flour

1 level teaspoon ground ginger

1 level teaspoon mixed spice

1 level teaspoon nutmeg ~ freshly grated if possible

454g/1lb soft brown sugar

227g/8oz breadcrumbs

284g/10oz shredded suet ~ beef or vegetable, whichever you prefer

6 eggs, beaten

142ml/5fl oz stout, such as Guinness

142ml/5fl oz brandy

grated rind and juice of 1 orange

142ml/5fl oz milk (approximately)

Grease whatever size of pudding basins you would like your finished Christmas puddings to be.  This recipe will make enough to fill four, one pint, pudding basins each one of which will give about six servings.

Put all the dried fruit into a very large bowl, along with the stout, brandy, and the rind/juice of the orange.  Leave to one side.

Smells so delicious 😋

Sift the flour and spices into another large bowl, then stir in the sugar, breadcrumbs, and suet.  In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the stout, brandy, and orange juice; add to the dried fruit, mixing in well.

Now's the time to work those biceps and start adding the dry ingredients to the wet, three or four spoonfuls at a time, stirring well after each addition.  When you get towards the end of the dry ingredients you will have to make a judgement call on how much milk to add.  I find that this varies from year-to-year, depending on how absorbent the dry ingredients happen to be.  The mixture should be a soft dropping consistency. 

Divide the mixture between your well greased pudding basins.  This year I made one large pudding, along with a couple of smaller ones, from both batches of the recipe.  I used faff about with a doubled-up sheet of greaseproof paper, pleated in the centre, to cover the puddings.  A couple of years ago I had a brainwave and used cake tin liners instead ~ I know, genius, right 😏  Depending on what I have to hand, I then hold said liner/greaseproof paper in place with either string or an elastic band.  You use whichever method suits you best 😊

I also used to either use a pudding basin net or make a string handle to lift the puddings in and out of the steamer.  Now I just don my trusty rubber washing up gloves as I find it easier.  Just make sure to take care when removing the pudding as the basin will be very hot, and there will also be a lot of steam.

The old aluminium saucepan belonged to my paternal Grandma and it only ever gets used for steaming puddings.  I've had the steamer for donkey's years; the poor thing is a tad battered as it has been dropped a number of times over the years on the quarry tiled floor of our old kitchen!

So, bring the pan of water to the boil and place the pudding, in the steamer, on top; turn the water down to a low simmer.  Depending on the size of basin used, the puddings will take 5 to 7 hours to steam.  I steam my one pint puddings for 6 hours each, and the larger ones for the full 7.  To keep an eye on things, I set my timer for one hour at a time so that I remember to go and check on the water level in the saucepan.  Keep it topped up as necessary with boiling water from the kettle.

At the end of the steaming period, take the pudding from the steamer (remember to take care!) and discard the cake liner/greaseproof paper.  Cover with a clean tea-towel and leave on one side to cool.  When the pudding is totally cold remove it from the basin, wrap in a double sheet of greaseproof paper or baking parchment, then wrap again tightly in cooking foil.

The puddings should be stored in a cool place, or they could even be frozen if you'd prefer.  You'll have to remember to defrost them thoroughly before reheating.  With all the sugar and alcohol in them they should keep well in a cool place, though.  We have one at Christmas, obviously, but it's also a family tradition to have another at Easter.

When you are ready to eat your Christmas puddings, they can either be gently steamed for about 1 1/2 hours or reheated in the microwave ~ we take the latter route as it's simpler when there's so much other cooking going on.  I really can't tell you how long to reheat the pudding in the microwave as it's very much a trial-and-error process depending on your own particular machine.  I heat the pudding on full power for five minutes, then in short burst of a minute or so until it is thoroughly hot all the way through.

Serve your pudding with whatever your family likes best: rum/brandy butter, cream, a white (brandy or rum, perhaps) sauce, custard, ice-cream, etc.  We like to have ours with either cream or a white sauce flavoured with brandy.  I make the sauce very simply, like packet-mix custard ~ just substitute cornflour in place of the custard powder and add brandy to taste!

You can tweak this recipe to your heart's content with the proportions and varieties of dried fruit, so long as the total amount remains about the same.  You could also have a little less fruit and add nuts instead.  You can use rum instead of brandy if you would prefer ~ I use brandy as I'm really not keen on rum.  Make the recipe your own by using the fruit (and nuts) that you and your family like to eat.

Enjoy 😊 

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)   

Little words of wisdom

 

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)   

What a difference...

a pair of young women wielding various "tools of destruction" can make in a morning😄

You may recall my sad lament regarding how vigorously the fuchsia beside the tiny little nature pool had grown.  Like the rest of the garden it had become totally overgrown over the last 18 months or so, but I have to admit that it wasn't an easy shrub to keep under control at the best of times.  So Adrian and I asked Beverly and Lyndi if they could help us do something with it.  They are both quite keen on a spot of demolition and were kind enough to come over last weekend to sort it out ~ and all we had to do was feed and water the pair of 'em😉

Ta-daa!  What a huge difference removing it has made!  There is obviously a lot of work yet to be done, but we won't be tackling it until next year as we are still plugging away at the rest of the garden.  I expect we will end up deconstructing the area and starting again, certainly in the vicinity of the pool at any rate.  I am considering taking out the plants on the right-hand side and extending the size of the pool to make a tiny marshy area.

I'm trying to rein-in my butterfly mind, though, as it's going to be a number of months before we can make a start on this new project!  I was thinking about it in the shower the other day and obviously not concentrating on what I was picking up ~ I ended up washing with my "detoxifying" seaweed shampoo instead of  the "soothing and nourishing" coconut body wash😳

The deconstruction/reconstruction in the old fruit cage area is still progressing albeit a tad slowly this week as the weather is rather mixed.  Whilst Adrian was working on the bed at the front I got the two holly bushes dug out from the one at the back, and moved them to fill the gap in the hedge border.

Good news, by the way, on the hedge border front.  Our neighbours have started a massive clearing out exercise of their thorny/prickly shrubs, so hopefully I won't have to contend with them encroaching into our garden in the future 😊 

As well as the holly bushes I also dug out the two ferns that were in the same bed, along with two from the border that runs across the garden in front of the dining room.  Before I realised just how hard it would be to transplant, I had thought about moving the fuchsia into this bed.  Now that our neighbours are having this clear out in their garden and I don't have to try to "fight back" with my own big shrubs, I felt it would be much better to make this into a fern bed instead.  There really are four ferns in the bed, it's just that two are very small ~ probably because they were being rather smothered by weeds!  I have two more in the border alongside the path that runs from the front gate, and I'll hopefully get them moved into the bed soon.

I can't quite believe how long it took me to move these six plants ~ I was out there beavering away for about three bloody hours!  The couple that had been in the bed with the holly bushes were relatively easy to dig out, but it was hard going getting the other two out of that overgrown border 😒

And to finish off, here's a cute scene in the central raised bed in the back patio garden: a little slice of life imitating art 👏

Little words of wisdom